NYE Plans & a {quick} 2013 Recap

Can you believe it's already New Years Eve??  I know I can't!  This year seemed to have flown by.  It's definitely been one of the best years yet.  Sure, there were some very unpleasant and downright depressing things to happen, but as always, we overcame each obstacle, or at least, we're still learning to.

As for NYE plans, well, I've never really been big on NYE.  Don't get me wrong, I like celebrating (let's be honest, I love any excuse to put on real clothes, gather with friends, and take photos.)  But I've never been one to go all out.  Back in St. Louis, everyone else was going to clubs and bars, paying between $80-$150 for a ticket to get in.  Not my thing.  I did it once and had no desire to do it again.  I'm much more of a house party goer when it comes to NYE.  The past two years I've actually spent NYE at my parents house with just them and my siblings.  And they were some of my best yet!!  

This year?  Well, it's 11am and our plans are still up in the air.  One of the wonderful things about military life is duty.  (that was said in total sarcasm for all my non-military readers).  Nick was scheduled for a 24 hour duty today.  Don't ask me what he actually has to do on this duty.  But it's on-call.  He had to go in at 8am this morning, will go back in this afternoon, and hopefully that will be the last time.  As of now, he shouldn't be there when midnight strikes. But it's the military, and if you're familiar with her, you know she's pretty much a demanding, selfish mistress to our men.  So odds are something will happen and Nick will be called into work just as the ball is dropping.  If that's the case, I'm going with him.  I'm bringing my New Years tiara and champagne.  I know Nick can't drink with me, but he's wearing that tiara with his flight suit.  I'm not letting the Navy cause me to celebrate husbandless.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of husbandless NYEs when it comes to deployments, but I won't be husbandless when he's in the same damn city!!!!

2013 was a year filled with some of the most joy I've ever experienced as well as some of the deepest pain I've ever felt.

 I had my first real cancer scare, we had my family and Nick's family come to visit (four times total!), we experienced our first military goodbyes to true friends we me made in Pensacola, as well as made new great friendships, I lost my beloved Grandpa and am still learning how to cope with it, I experienced one of the proudest moments of my life as I pinned on Nick's wings of gold in accomplishing his biggest life dream, we said goodbye to our first home and Pensacola, moved to Jacksonville FL, Nick began his aviation career in the fleet flying the MH-60R, we bought our first home together, we bought a new car, I landed my dream job, we took an anniversary trip to Disney World (my first ever), we roadtripped to Atlanta to watch the Cardinals take on the Braves, it was an amazing year for my teams in sports as our Cardinals made it to the World Series and Mizzou football, in their 2nd year in the SEC, landed themselves in the SEC Championship, I was able to travel to St. Louis four different times this year, we spent lots of time with my sister and BIL in Alabama, , I got another clear scan putting me 7 years in remission, I learned it's okay to let go of some friendships which allowed me to strengthen myself, I deepened other friendships, my sister got engaged, my best friend shared huge and exciting news with me, I adopted a much healthier lifestyle, we had our first ER vet free year, we got ourselves into a much better financial situation, I finally own a nice DSLR camera, and we ended the year yesterday by welcoming (from afar) our first ever niece into the world.

All in all, it's been a fantastic year.  My heart is still healing from losing my hero, but I have so many wonderful people, experiences, and life events to be grateful for.  Grandpa taught me to focus on the positive and live a glass-half-full (of manhattans of course) life.  And that's just what I will continue to do.  I look forward to 2014 and whatever it has in store for me!

Roadtrip to Obie Christmas

With the car packed to the max, (we have to buy a turtle shell for the top of our SUV next Christmas.  Our overpacking ways mixed with all the gifts we receive combined with the things we stock up on (my favorite Missouri wine, Nick's favorite Missouri chips, clothes and decor from our favorite local stores, etc) we were ready to head back to Florida.  Well, physically ready.  I'm never emotionally ready.  I hate saying goodbye to my family.  It's so hard.  Especially when my mother is crying, my Grandma is bawling, and we don't know when we'll see everyone again.  I need to get my next visit (or their next visit) on the calendar so I have something to look forward to!

Anyway, we had the car packed, and obviously Sierra wanted to come home with us too.  I'm sure she'd quickly want to go back to Missouri when she learned we don't let her on the couch or beds, nor do we give her human food or a treat every time she potties or enters a house (she's a spoiled only child.)  

The trip back kind of stunk.  I feel awful because Nick always does more driving than me.  I loathe driving.  After about 3 to 4 hours, I get antsy.  My butt begins to hurt.  My antsy-ness then turns into anxiety and I have to quit.  Which leaves poor Nick to do the majority of the driving.  In our 15 hour drive, I probably drive a total of 6 hours.  I'm an awful wife and roadtripper.  

Anyway, the drive sucked, for reasons other than it's a 15 hour drive.

For starters, we hit traffic.  At 10pm.  Seriously?  hashtag WTF.

Then it was raining for about 10 hours of our trip.  And about 8 of those it was a hard downpour.  

Sunflower seeds.  It's Nick's only saving grace for staying awake.  But they have to be barbecue flavored ones.  And they have to be the jumbo seeds.  Otherwise, they won't do the job for him.  Picky much??  That bottle of sunflower seed shells smells horrible.  But I guess it's better than alternatives such as dipping (disgusting) or downing energy drinks.  I just make sure he brushes his teeth before we makeout (you know, because there's lots of that going on while driving.)
The girls did well, as usual.  They slept the entire 15 hours, only standing up when we stopped for gas.  I love that we don't have to drug them for them to sleep on roadtrips or that they are content to stay in the car the entire trip.

Have you ever stopped at a rest area?  I've noticed that:

 // everyone there looks like a character out of Walking Dead.  Ya know, minus the whole eating people's faces off.

// old people love small dogs

// people absolutely love our dogs.  They point at them, smile at them, wave to them, and always want to pet them

// fashion rules and looking presentable are concepts that don't exist (guilty)

// the bathrooms are always about 40 degrees

Other things I learned on this trip:

// I now suddenly get car sick.  Isn't that just wonderful?  I didn't throw up but there were plenty of times I thought I was going to.  Thankfully, if I'm behind the wheel I'm okay.

// I'm over my love of fast food.  I used to love it.  Crave it all the time.  Now, it's the worst part of roadtrips.  There are really no healthy options.  I eat like crap and definitely feel like crap.

// Leggings and slipper booties are the best traveling attire ever.

Once home, we crashed in bed for about three hours.  When I woke up, I walked out of the bedroom to see this:

See all of that?  The crap on the floor, the crap on the couch, on the table (minus the computer monitor), and there's even more on the kitchen island.  Allllll of that was in our SUV.  And only in the second row seating (we had to make sure the dogs had the back all comfy because we're crazy dog people and would never inconvenience them).  I have NO idea how Nick does it, but he's an expert packer.  

Okay, so not only is he fantastic because he fit this all and saved us from mailing ourselves packages, but he also brought all of this in the house while I was sleeping!  I didn't have to do any work.  Best husband ever!  

Anyway, we showered and made ourselves look like real human beings (sort of) and then we had our own little Obie Christmas.  We didn't take all of our gifts to one another back to St. Louis on the account of saving space.   So we opened them all the night we got back.

Picture time!!!

I've been wanting a Clarasonic for a very long time and I finally got one!!!!!

Of course I couldn't pass up a VW shirt when I saw it.  (Nick is obsessed with Volkswagen) 

Nick wrapped my empty Rebel box since it was an early Christmas gift.

And Vino was loving just walking around holding the wadded up wrapping paper. (She never eats anything, just loves to hold things in her mouth. {that's what she said}.)

The girls always have to be in the middle of everything. 

Nick got me a gym bag because I'm desperately been needing one.  And of course he fed into my Under Armour obsession (he turned me to the dark side a few months ago).  He also got me a new laptop bag!  I have been using the ugly standard, bulky one my work gave me.  This one is cuter because it's purple (a common color for my job), it can hold my laptop, AND it can hold my paperwork, planner, and notebooks.  My old case could only hold my laptop, despite how large it was, which meant I was going to work with my oversized purse, my laptop case, an additional bag for my stuff, and a lunch bag!  That's just too much!

 Nick has been wanting a bottle of Jack's Single Barrel so I got him the gift set. And he loved it! 

Again, I saw another shirt that screamed Nick.  He's one of those Harry Potter nerds (and I don't mean that in a negative way!)  I also found this cute little helicopter.  I thought it'd be a nice addition to a shelf somewhere in the house :)

SPERRY'S!!!  I've never owned a pair but just recently I've really been wanting one.  And although he hates my leopard obsession, he fed into it by buying me the leopard Sperry's!!!  I love them!   

As always, the girls had fun ripping up all the paper.
And yes, we still didn't clean the mess from our trip.  To be honest, it stayed there for a good 48 hours!  No shame either.  

After the gifts were opened and we cleaned up the wrapping paper, Nick poured himself a drink.  Definitely a good gift!

And when we were finished, we cuddled in bed watching tv so that we didn't have to look at our unpacked bags and Christmas gifts and feel badly about being bums.  But in our defense, we had drove for 15 hours and only slept for 3 hours.  We were lacking all motivation.

And that completes the Christmas posts!!!  Woo, feels good! Now to focus on the new year!

(To answer the questions:  Obie is a nickname from our last name.  All of Nick's friends call me Mrs. Obie and that's what most of his friends refer to him as.)

Christmas Celebrations

Christmas this year was just like every other year...better than the last and far from a disappoint.  It was as perfect as it could be.  Of course, pure perfection would have been having my Grandpa there (although, spiritually, he was there with us, I'm sure) and having my siblings there.  Unfortunately, Leah had to work so her and Kyle were unable to join us.  Randy was also working which meant he stayed back in KC with his family, but Ben made the trip in to spend with us.

The first of our celebrations was with my family, on Christmas Eve.  We started the afternoon with a trip to visit Grandpa to wish him a Merry Christmas.  Then we headed down the street to visit my other grandparents.

As is customary every year, just after arriving, we get our family photos taken and various group photos. And of course, I can't act normal for a long period of time.  Nor can my husband ever cooperate.

Then comes drinking (Manhattans in Grandpa's honor), laughs, and plenty of shenanigans. 

(Ben and Nick both had on fancy matching socks to compliment their outfits.)

Then it's time to gather around the table where we stand, hold hands, and pray.  As of lately, our family prayer consists of many tears and choking on words as we feel the emptiness in the circle.  With our hands held a little tighter than they have been the past 29 years of my life, our hearts might be missing a piece of them with Grandpa's passing, but the love between the 16 of us has only strengthened and it helps to ease the pain of loss.  

The tears quickly fade into laughs and we dig in to the spread of food before us and pour more drinks.  (I was too busy stuffing my face to get a picture of the food.  Not sorry).

After dinner, we all gather in the living room.  We sit around the Christmas tree; the tree that is now train-less.  It pains me to experience my first Christmas without Grandpa's excitement when he gets down on his hands and knees, puts his hand on the buttons of the train engine, looks at me and says "You ready, Mellie?!"  To which I always respond, probably a little too excited for a late-twenty year old, as he turns it on.  The train begins making it's noises, he turns to me with a childlike grin, and waits for me to say, in unison with the conductor "CENTRAL STATION!"  It was mine and Grandpa's thing.  And I will fully admit that I never realized just how special it was to me until this year.  When the tree no longer contained that train.  When Grandpa wasn't there to partake in our little ritual.  

Thankfully the tears welling up in my eyes are kept at bay when the obnoxiousness of my loud family takes over.  The jokes, the laughs, the flying presents, the spilled drinks.  It's hard to let sadness take over when you're surrounded by 15 of the most amazing people you've ever loved and been loved by.  

The present opening begins, usually in organized chaos.

This is the only photo I have from present opening.  Major fail.  Grandma ran out of gift boxes so we got these.  And inside them was cash.  Thanks, Grandma.  I'd have been highly disappointed if you gave me pie crust (I don't like pie).

Normally at this point in the night, we play games, something Grandpa and Grandma always loved doing at every family function.  But Grandma wanted to take a nap since she had decided to go to midnight service at her church.  We took this as the perfect opportunity to play Cards Against Humanity.  If you haven't played the game, you aren't living.  Seriously, go buy it.  It's just like Apples to Apples but so much more vulgar and inappropriate.  Which is perfect for my family (if you don't like using words such as boner, dick, vagina, etc, then I wouldn't play this game).  My family had never played this game and needless to say, they loved it!  (Just to clarify, there were no doubts they would).  

A ways into the game, Grandma comes strolling in, wanting to know what we're playing.  She sat down next to my Aunt J, and we were just hoping she wouldn't be able to hear well, or that most of them would go way over her head.  

We could not have been more wrong.  Grandma wasn't only not offended, she joined in.  If it wasn't official before, it's official now.  I have the coolest Grandma in the world!  Case and point:  Grandma enters and sits next to my Aunt J.  Aunt J begins reading her cards.  She gets to one that is clearly inappropriate and begins laughing, not wanting to read it due to her mother (Grandma) sitting next to her.  Grandma then leans over, looks at the card in Aunt J's hand and says "Female orgasm", in a very matter of fact voice.  We.All.Died.  

Then later, Uncle G purposefully passes a card off for the round just so he (and all of us) can hear Grandma say "boner".  And she did.  Grandma was also educated on what a queef is and had no reaction upon learning of it's meaning.
Coolest Grandma ever!

Unfortunately the game had to come to an end as my immediate family had to leave to get to Midnight Mass on time.  To which I have to say, how the heck did I do this before?  Maybe it's because I'm almost 30, but staying up that late after a full day was pure torture.  I could not do it.
As soon as we got home, I crashed. Hard.

Now to celebration number two!
We spent the night with my parents so when we woke up the next morning, we all opened presents together, but not before getting Leah and Kyle on Skype.  It was a little hard to see them on the tiny MacBook but we managed to watch them open their gifts from us as well as them watching us open their gifts to us.

(this Christmas Eve, before Santa came)

So gifts were opened and I was shocked by some of the things I received!  Nick always goes above and beyond what we say to spend.  Next year, I'm spoiling the shit out of him.  

 1.  I finally have a diploma frame!!!  I've been wanting one for a long time but these babies aren't cheap. ||  2.  Mom and Ben opening gifts. ||  3.  My gift from Randy (to buy lots of fun things for my home).  ||  4.  Nick makes some pretty bombass chicken tenders and fries but our current itty bitty deep fryer means he can only make one or the other.  And those two things totally go together.  Now, he can cook them both (this deep fryer comes with one large basket or two small ones).  ||  5.  Ben being Ben.  ||  6.  Nicholas bought me a sewing machine!!!!!  I've been wanting one for sooooo long and now I finally one!  I totally did not expect him to get this for me because he always seems so disinterested when I bring up sewing projects. I'm shocked he even knew what to buy!  ||  7.  Dad and Sierra (with my creeper dogs in the background).  ||  8.  Nick is obsessed with puzzles.  He loved the top puzzle we all did at the lake many years ago.  Then two days ago, he was telling my Grandma about this exact puzzle and began looking for it online.  I was going to be so mad if he ended up buying it but thankfully he couldn't find it.  And thus he absolutely loved this gift from me.  ||  9.  Family photo.  We started a new tradition this year of buying matching jammie shirts to sleep in and open gifts in.  Sadly, I didn't remember to take a better photo other than this one.

And how awesome is this?!  We stopped by the gas station and they had these on the counter.  Beautiful carvings in various types of marble.  It wasn't even a question of whether we wanted to spend some of our Christmas cash on it.  We decided on the marble we wanted and brought this baby home!  I love it because it's a very unique piece and obviously reminds us of home :)

I didn't post all the photos because, well let's be honest.  Sleepy eyes mixed with no makeup and bedhead just aren't cute.  But there were obviously many more gifts given.  {And although it looks like Nick got me two badass gifts of a diploma frame and sewing machine and I only got him puzzles & a deep fryer, rest assured he got some good gifts and I'm not an awful gift giver.  This morning he also got an Apple TV and video games.  Oh, and that Xbox One he bought a month ago.}

Of course the pups got gifts too.  And for the first time, they actually opened their own gifts.  And like always, Yadi only wanted what Vino had.

The girls also got pretty new collars.  Yadi has been in dire need of a new one.

Yeah, isn't that gross??
Vino has had a simple black one since we got her.  I've been wanting to get her a new one but it's been a struggle.  Nick is really an anything girly hater.  He loathes the color red.  He doesn't want pink on his dogs.  He hates paisley.  He hates flowers.  He hates swirls and polka dots.  If he had it his way, she'd have a blue and green striped color.  Um, no thanks.  Vino is too dainty and sweet to have a boy collar.  We finally agreed on these colors and chevron was pretty much the only non-girly pattern we could find these colors in.  So it was the winner.  But I'm happy with it.  It looks good on her (although it is weird to see such a wide collar on her.  I'm used to her thin, puppy collar.)  

But the best gift of all for the pups?  The wrapping paper.  The girls just went to town ripping it apart.  But we didn't mind.  It kept them out of our hair while we opened gifts.  

We had Christmas celebration number 3 with Nick's family but I completely forgot to take photos of this day :(  I know, major major fail.  I did, however, take a picture of one of my awesome gifts:

A basket full of a bunch of local Missouri wines!!!  They know me well ;)

We enjoyed dinner and gifts and laughs. Then the next night we went to more of his family's house for Christmas fun. Sadly, I didn't bring my camera and my phone was dead so no pictures. 

We had a white elephant gift exchange and I ended up with this super soft and comfy Mizzou blanket and fuzzy socks!! Major win!!

And that completes our Christmas' in St. Louis.  If you made it this far, congratulations, you deserve one of my bottles of wine.  Unfortunately for you, I'm selfish and won't share.  But if you come visit, I just might let you have a sip.  

Christmas Visit in St. Louis

Is it just me or are introduction paragraphs hard to write?  I really dislike them.  I feel like I need to start with a general statement about how thankful I am I was able to go home, but no words would accurately portray just how grateful I am.  I feel like I should mention how kickass my family is, but words would absolutely fall short there.  And I feel like I should mention how much I miss St. Louis and my friends but again, no words.  

So let's skip it all and just dive right in, shall we?

This year we were only able to go home for a week instead our normal 10 to 12 days.  Nick's leave wasn't as long this year and I now have a job to get back to.  

We headed into town on Friday evening.  I know most people think we're crazy but we prefer driving through the night.  There is way less traffic and it's just easier.  

Anyway, the trip can be summed up with photos.  That's all most people care about, right?

So let's get on with it, shall we?


 We left Jacksonville and all of it's glorious 77 degrees with a packed SUV.  As we drove north, the temperatures continued to drop.  As the bottom picture shows, I am not a fan of the cold.  There are few things I hate worse than cold weather.  It's the one reason I hate going home for the holidays.

However, one reason we do love going home is the liquor laws.  Since we got married, we've lived in Maryland and Florida.  Both places were liquor is only sold in liquor stores.  Now, I know this makes me incredibly lazy, but I prefer one-stop shops.  Nick is seen here, in Target, Vanna White-ing their liquor.  You see, in Missouri, you can buy wine, beer, and liquor in Target, Walmart, all grocery stores, and all gas stations.  We have liquor stores, but I don't know why.  I've only been in one once.  And it was my 21st birthday, because I needed to feel cool.  And I've never gone back.  Why make an additional stop when I'm always at a gas station or grocery store?  Not to mention, the liquor store is always so much more expensive!



My Mama got me the tan faux fur vest for Christmas!!  I have the gray one and love it so she got me the tan one!
Nicholas and I went out with friends a few times, which was nice to put on real clothes instead of our jammies.

 I spent a few days shopping with my brother and let's just say it's far from boring.  He's the funniest person I know, and we always have such a great time!  (He's in my Granpa's old coat, not a fur sleeveless vest).


We spent most mornings drinking coffee with Bailey's delicious Red Velvet Cupcake creamer added to it.  AH-MAZING!
Anytime we were in the car, our Sirius XM radio was on channel 111 because it plays nothing but Bing Crosby's Christmas Radio.  You know, the old radio shows from back in the 1940's?  Yep, those.  It even has all the old commercials too!!  We listened to it one day with Grandma in the car and she got the biggest kick out of it.  This is a new tradition we started and plan to do each year: car rides with Bing.  It was my first time listening to them and I just love his old radio shows!!!
 Of course we had to FaceTime with our brotha from another motha, Julius.  Boy do we miss him!  It's hard with him being in California and us in Florida.  Hopefully at some point the Navy will bring us all back together.
Another perk to being at home is the pups are allowed on Mom and Dad's furniture.  Which means I get lots of cuddles with my dogs.  Yadi is far from cuddly, but when she's allowed on a couch, she's all about it!

Of course I got lots of snuggles with my little Sierra.

I just love Nicholas in deep purple but he does not like photos.  If you couldn't tell.  He refused to cooperate for me.  I was finally able to get a photo of him smiling, but if I remember correctly, I think I bribed him.  I also love that he now wears matching socks, thanks to my brother :)
He's so cute even when he's an uncooperative south pole elf.

The pups did lots of chewing on toys.  And Yadi did lots of pouting that she couldn't have Vino's toys.

Vino even got some loving from Nick, which is very rare since she makes him all itchy!

It was also nice to get photos with Nicholas that don't have half of one of our extended arms in the photo (aka The Selfie).  Or using a self-timer.   Thanks, Mom!

During our trip home, I also did some wedding planner for my sister by meeting with some potential vendors.  I cannot tell you how excited I am for her to get married and to be her Matron of Honor (I don't like how old that sounds.  Can I rename it to something much cooler?  Help me think of a new name.  The ____ of Honor.")
We both got to visit a few friends and we spent a lot of time with my Grandma.  Those moments are even more special to me now that Grandpa is gone.  I have some regrets about not spending more time with him, (even though I couldn't because I live so far away).


Basically, our trip home is summed up by lots of family and friends, too many laughs, drinking, shopping, wedding planning, and cuddling with pups!

Like always, leaving was incredibly hard.  And I was ready to get back home to Florida and use my remaining vacation days to settle back in our normal routine and celebrate our own little Christmas.


Did you all travel for the holidays?  Do you, too, feel you need a vacation from your vacation?  A few days to destress and unwind?

Merry Christmas, From Our Family to Yours

Merry Christmas, from Nicholas, Yadi, Vino, and myself.  We hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas holiday filled with love and laughter.   

FAIL: Doggie Christmas Photos

 I think it's safe to say that my dogs are nothing like their mother and they do not enjoy photos.  They're much more like their father, except he cooperates and smiles for them...sometimes.

I don't know about you all, but put my dogs in front of a camera and they don't listen.  Taking photos of them is harder than trying to lick your own elbow (did you just try??)  

Actually, I take that back.  Yadi is perfect (95% of the time) when it comes to photos.  Grab a treat and she'll sit, stay, and hold your eye contact for as long as you want.  And sometimes, she'll even give you a wink!

Vino, on the other hand, turns into an antsy asshole.  Camera comes out and all commands go to the wind.  Ask her to sit and she'll sit, but the instant her butt touches the ground, she's back up.  Ask her to lay down and she'll do it, but in a Sphinx position, which is far from cute.  She won't put herself into a relaxed "down" position.

And for some reason, Nick thought bringing the bathmat out (which they LOVE to lay on and we never allow it) would be a great idea.  Not only did it not work, but it made the photos look even worse.  

Vino finally got fed up with us and just turned into a dead reindeer and Yadi followed suit.  She refused to stand up or sit up.  Thanks for nothing, assclown.

We nixed the dogs by themselves because we were getting pretty frustrated.

We thought, "Why don't we each take a dog and get photos that way."
Another bad idea.  

You put a headband on Yadi, in this case reindeer antlers, and she looks like an idiot.  Ears go straight back against her head and she thins her face out so badly. Her face/head strongly resemble a greyhound.  And I'm sorry if you like or own one, this is just my personal opinion, but those dogs are not cute.  So I'm not too fond of these Yadi/Nick pictures.

I thought photos with Vino would be easier.  Just sit on the ground and she's all about being in your lap.  I forgot to take into account that she hates when you FORCE her to do anything, so of course, she put herself into that stupid Sphinx position.  All of them.  Awful.  Not that I'm not a gem in all of their either lol

Then she went into her "I love you so much I just want to eat your face" phase.  

Not cute.

We managed to get one decent photo, but like always, Vino looks beyond pissed off.  She has a very stoic look to her, which bothers me, because if you've met her, then you know she's the sweetest, most loving dog there is.  Seriously, everyone who meets her wants to steal her.  Or they leave wanting a Vizsla.

We really failed this year.  When we could get both of them to lay down, neither would look.  The tile was more interesting.

I think they knew our plan was to wrap this around them so they didn't want to cooperate.

But then we called it quits because when Yadi is finished behaving, there's no more hope.

Yadi says "I'm done bizznatches!"